Sharp - Paperback

by David Fitzpatrick (Author)

David Fitzpatrick's Sharp is an extraordinary memoir--a fascinating, disturbing look into the mind of a man who, in his early 20s, began cutting himself due to a severe mental illness. A beautifully written treatment of a powerful subject, Fitzpatrick--whose symptoms included extreme depression and self-mutilation--writes movingly and honestly about his affliction and inspires readers with his courage, joining the literary ranks of Terri Cheney (Manic), Augusten Burroughs (Running with Scissors), Marya Hornbacher (Wasted), and Susanna Kaysen (Girl, Interrupted).

"A harrowing journey from self-destructive psychosis to a cautious re-emergence into the flickering sunshine of the sane world....Fitzpatrick writes about mental illness with the unsparing intensity of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton but also with the hard-won self-knowledge of William Styron, Kay Jamison, and other chroniclers of disease, recovery, and management.... A must read, remarkably told."
--Wally Lamb, author of I Know This Much is True

Front Jacket

"Endorphins sped through me. I spun around, growing dizzy, frantic, and silly. I wasn't drunk, but I felt a nice stoned feeling, sans paranoia, and I thought, 'I believe I've found my new pharmaceutical deep inside.' I giggled fearlessly, manically at this and looked down at myself; hands, arms, chest, and belly covered in crimson . . . "

In his early twenties, David Fitzpatrick became so consumed by mental illness it sent him into a frenzy of cutting himself with razor blades. In this shocking and often moving book, he describes the rush this act gave him, the fleeting high that seemed to fill the spaces in the rest of his life. It started a difficult battle from which he would eventually emerge with a knowledge that led to his own emotional resurrection.

With prose that is tough and gritty, profound and insightful, Sharp is a tale of hope, a soul-baring quest of a lost man who returns to himself, overcomes his demons, and reclaims his life.

--Rachel Basch, author of Degrees of Love and The Passion of Reverend Nash

Back Jacket

"Endorphins sped through me. I spun around, growing dizzy, frantic, and silly. I wasn't drunk, but I felt a nice stoned feeling, sans paranoia, and I thought, 'I believe I've found my new pharmaceutical deep inside.' I giggled fearlessly, manically at this and looked down at myself; hands, arms, chest, and belly covered in crimson . . . "

In his early twenties, David Fitzpatrick became so consumed by mental illness it sent him into a frenzy of cutting himself with razor blades. In this shocking and often moving book, he describes the rush this act gave him, the fleeting high that seemed to fill the spaces in the rest of his life. It started a difficult battle from which he would eventually emerge with a knowledge that led to his own emotional resurrection.

With prose that is tough and gritty, profound and insightful, Sharp is a tale of hope, a soul-baring quest of a lost man who returns to himself, overcomes his demons, and reclaims his life.